Reply by Dave Rutan

For smaller items, I usually work off a sketch showing the finished piece with measurements drawn in. A few of my larger projects, I. E. our kitchen book case, I drew in AutoCAD to accurately space the shelves. For the Adirondack chairs I built, I got a Norm Abram book fro the library and followed his plans. Other things I will do on the fly with a sort of ‘cut to fit’ attitude. I do this especially with prototypes. Once I get things figured out, I’ sketch a drawing for next time.